Republican U.S. Senators meet today to discuss the GOP’s latest bill repealing the Affordable Care Act. Some senators are also meeting with Democrats about an alternative. Ohio's Sherrod Brown says there are four items on which he’d be willing to work with Republicans: Subsidies to keep the insurance markets stable, getting more young people enrolled, controlling drug prices and ensuring there’s a public option.
Brown anticipates problems with Republican plans to apply for waivers to exempt people from some mandatory coverage requirements under the act. He says insurance companies would go back to offering policies with high co-pays, high deductibles and little coverage.
Brown says Medicaid expansion provides coverage for 170 thousand rural Ohioans, and they will see their premiums increase by nearly 700 dollars next year if the GOP bill becomes law.
